Belarus launched its first satellite, Belka, in July 2006. However, a Dnepr rocket carrying the Belarusian satellite, along with several international satellites, crashed shortly after liftoff from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, due to a first stage engine shutdown.

Belka was the name of a Soviet dog, who, along with her companion, Strelka, was the first creature to go into orbit and return alive, making her trip in August 1960.